Review: Terminator Genisys (2015)

Arnie is back.

Directed by Alan Taylor
Produced by David Ellison and Dana Goldberg
Written by Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier

Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Clarke, Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney and J.K. Simmons

B-

Six years after a failed (underrated) entry in the Terminator franchise, the series returns with Arnold Schwarzenegger reprising his iconic role. The film picks up with the events of the first film, with a young Kyle Reese (Courtney) being sent back in time to 1984 by John Connor (Clarke) to protect his mother Sarah (Clarke). However, things have changed, and Sarah is now being protected by a Terminator (Schwarzenegger) who was sent back at her childhood to protect her. The launch of Skynet, through a program called Genisys, and the reckoning of Judgment Day are still upon the world, so the trio devise a time-traveling plan to stop the fateful day from happening. But John Connor has been compromised, and his fate could ruin any chance they have of saving the day. If the world is to be delivered, sacrifices must be made on both sides.

While the post-James Cameron sequels/reboots have been decent fan fiction at best, this oft-enjoyable film misses more than it hits. No doubt, the nostalgia from the original two films is the main draw, and it’s surprisingly thrilling to see Schwarzenegger back in the saddle as the Terminator. Though, the rest of the cast fail to recapture the magic of what James Cameron created. The ideas tossed around, while intriguing, aren’t well-developed, and the film is mostly just a series of chase sequences and fights scenes, with the odd nod to the original Terminator films here and there. Of course, the film does have solid production values. The CGI, for instance, is an improvement over the last installment, especially the work on the young Schwarzenegger Terminator. Still, this is just an aside to the original films more than anything else. It’s there, fun, and pretty much gone afterwards. More exploration of Cameron’s apocalyptic universe is most welcome, but it can be better than this somewhat forgettable, if admirable, effort.

Oscar Potential: None